From stealing bases to stealing hearts, the Chicago Cubs are getting into the content game.
The baseball team just announced the upcoming release of “Nine Innings to Love,” a scripted rom-com series that is set to launch on the team’s TikTok account on Sept. 4. The series is inspired by the real-life phenomenon of fans meeting and sparking a connection at Cubs games.
The story is told across nine innings of baseball and consists of 17 short-form, social-first episodes. The series was created and written by the Cubs’ creative arm, Cubs Productions, with production services provided by Chicago’s Coyote Sun Productions. The series is directed by Adam Sobel.
Per the official synopsis, the series “follows Ava (Veronica Garrubbo), an aspiring romance writer in a slump, and David (Sid Kutikkad), a sweet but love-shy seatmate who does not believe romance is real, over the course of one Cubs game. After an accidental bleacher meet-cute leaves them stuck together for the game, Ava makes David a promise: before the final out, she will help him find a summer fling inside Wrigley Field. But as Ava turns the ballpark into a rom-com training ground, complete with swings and misses, a makeover, a returning ex and a ninth-inning chase, she starts to realize the story she has been trying to write may be happening right in front of her.”
Angelina Dávila, Kevin Kantor, Shelby Brown and Cole Steeves also star in the series.
“For generations, Wrigley Field has been a place where memories are made, friendships begin and love stories start,” Jen Martindale, the Cubs executive vice president of marketing and communications, said in a press release. “’Nine Innings to Love’ celebrates the magic of a summertime Cubs game through a bite-sized episodic format that’s built for Gen Z and millennial audiences. By blending a game of baseball with BookTok fandom and the vibes of a classic rom-com, we’ve created a story that could only unfold in the Budweiser Bleachers at Wrigley Field.”
“The inspiration for ‘Nine Innings to Love’ came from a simple truth about the Wrigley Field Budweiser Bleachers: with general admission seating, you never know who might end up beside you. That felt like the perfect starting point for a love story,” Adam Sobel, the Cubs director of content and production, also said in a press release. “In Ava and David, we wanted to create characters relatable to bleacher fans who come to the ballpark both for the game and for the possibility of what might happen off the field.”
Watch the “Nine Innings to Love” trailer and see the key art below.
@cubs For those who believe in a good love story. Nine Innings to Love: A 17-part vertical series, coming to your FYP this Friday. #booktok #romance #verticals #chicago #9ITL
